The present invention is directed to a skinning blade assembly and more particularly to a skinning blade assembly with a tapered blade and holder.
Skinning blade assemblies are well known in the art and generally comprise an elongated skinning blade with a clamp to hold the blade in place which is mounted on a shoe. With use, the cutting edge of the blade can become worn, dull, or clogged requiring removal and/or cleaning of the blade. Presently, removal of the blade requires a technician to disassemble the skinning assembly by removing the clamp from the shoe which disengages the blade that is secured between the two. The process is time consuming requiring not only excessive manpower, but also shut down time of the skinning machine resulting in lost productivity.
Therefore, a principal objective of the present invention is to provide a skinning blade assembly with a tapered blade that can easily be removed and replaced.
The skinning blade assembly has an elongated tapered blade, a clamp which receives the blade, and a shoe upon which the clamp is mounted. The clamp has a top, two sides, two ends, and a bottom. The bottom of the clamp has an elongated truncated tapered recess that receives the blade.
The blade has a forward serrated cutting edge, a rearward edge, two ends, a top and a bottom. The blade has a tapered truncated body portion that terminates in a vertical rearward edge that is complementary in shape to at least a part of the recess in the clamp. When the blade is placed in the recess of the clamp, the tapered portion of the blade engages the recess in the clamp and the bottom of the blade engages the shoe leaving an opening or space between the blade, the rearward end of the blade and the rearward wall of the recess. The force of oncoming meat products hold the blade in the recess during operation. To remove the blade an ice pick or similar tool is inserted in the space in the recess between the rearward edge of the blade and the vertical wall at the rearward end of the recess. Sufficient force is then applied by the tool to the rearward edge of the blade to push the blade out of the recess.
An alternate form of the invention uses a flat blade and a tapered wedge to serve the same functions as described above.